As a research group, we are delighted to announce that we will be hosting our first writing retreat in July 2019.

The GCYFRG has organised a writing retreat for the summer of 2019. This retreat is open to all members of the research group at all career stages and aims to provide a friendly environment for academic writing on the geographies of children, youth and families.

The retreat will be limited to 16 attendees and places are on a first come, first served basis. We hope to cover the costs of four PhD students (further details below). Whether you are working on chapter drafts of your PhD, your first or thirty-first paper, or a grant, big or small, we welcome participants from all career stages for a week of dedicated writing and thinking space in a supportive community.

Details:

Date: Monday 8th– Friday 12thJuly 2019 (arrival and departure times to be confirmed, likely to be after 3pm on Monday and before 10am on Friday)

Location: A central location in the UK, close to Stow on the Wold (postcode: GL54 1ER)

Accommodation: All participants will have their own bedroom.

Writing spaces: There is ample space to write with full use of an adjoining conference facility.

Other activities: The venue has a tennis court, games room and easy access to walks in the Cotswolds.

Travel: Road and rail access (nearest station is Moreton-in-Marsh, pick-ups or taxis from the station can be arranged). Participants will have to cover their own travel expenses.

Food: All meals (breakfast, lunch and dinner) are covered in the cost. Group cooking teams will be allocated closer to the event – each team will be responsible for cooking one evening meal for the group. Please send any dietary requirements in your confirmation of interest email. We may go for a pub dinner on the final evening, which will be an extra cost to participants.

Structure of the retreat: It is expected that all participants will solely focus on writing for the retreat, although leisure time will also be strongly encouraged to balance out the writing! It will be a relaxed and supportive environment conducive to writing.

Writing workshop:

As part of the retreat we are delighted that Professor Peter Kraftl (University of Birmingham) and Dr. Sarah Hall (University of Manchester) will be joining us to run a workshop on writing and publishing in the field of children, youth and families. This workshop will be on Tuesday afternoon and will be optional to participants.

Price:

Total cost per participant is £160(including accommodation, food and writing workshop)

To secure your place, please send an email to a.hadfield-hill@bham.ac.ukby 3rd November, 2018. Once your place is confirmed, you will be asked to make a £50 deposit to GCYFRG within 14 days of receiving confirmation to secure your place.

The final payment is needed by: 1stApril, 2019.

Bursaries:

We are hoping that 4 bursaries will be available for PhD students, although this will not be confirmed until November. If you would like to be considered for one of these potential bursaries, please send the following information in your confirmation of interest email:

a) Your full name and institutional affiliation

b) Year of PhD programme and whether PhD is funded

c) 250 word abstract of your PhD research

If you would like to be considered for one of the four potential bursaries, you will need to email this information to s.a.hadfield-hill@bham.ac.ukby 3rd November, 2018. Allocation of bursaries will be decided by the GCYFRG committee.

Eligibility:

The writing retreat is open to all members of GCYFRG. If you are on our mailing list, but not yet a member of the research group, please see our website for more information about membership and details of how to join: https://gcyfrg.wordpress.com/membership/

If you have any questions, please email the retreat organisers Dr. Sophie Hadfield-Hill (s.a.hadfield-hill@bham.ac.uk) and Dr. Catherine Walker (Catherine.walker-2@manchester.ac.uk).